This Wollochet Bay French Chateau Mansion in Gig Harbor was listed for $10.5 million in December 2016. No word if it sold above list price, but many homes in Pierce County are these days. Lui Kit WongNews Tribune file photo

This Wollochet Bay French Chateau Mansion in Gig Harbor was listed for $10.5 million in December 2016. No word if it sold above list price, but many homes in Pierce County are these days. Lui Kit WongNews Tribune file photo

Thanks, Seattle: Half of Tacoma home buyers paying above list price

Nearly half of all homes bought in Tacoma last year sold above the asking price, according to real estate data firm Zillow.

That’s a stark escalation from 2012, when fewer than one in five sold for above the asking price — about what the national figure was. Since then, the nationwide number has grown to nearly one in four.

The largest group of homeowner hopefuls, millennials, can least afford to buy. Those who graduated from college last year did so with an average student loan debt of nearly $40,000 — more than any previous graduating class, according to the website CollegeInvestor.com.

Such debt is forcing them to reconsider where they can afford to live, Williams said.

“Millennials still want to own homes; it’s the American dream,” Williams said. But “they can’t necessarily afford to live in Ballard, so one partner might be willing to commute (to Seattle) and the other will say, ‘Actually I’m looking for a job on the south end.’ ”

Buyers in Seattle have dealt with competitive offers for years, and they bring their sharp-elbow tactics to traditionally softer markets such as Pierce and Snohomish counties, Williams said.